In robotic welding, a robot directs an electrode metal wire and welding current through a robotic welding torch toward a target workpiece. Components of a robotic welding torch include consumables such as an insulator, a contact tip, a nozzle, and a diffuser. The electrode metal wire feeds through a passageway in the contact tip. The welding current flows through the diffuser and the contact tip. Inert gas flows from passages in the diffuser, and the nozzle guides the gas towards the tip of the electrode metal wire. The electrode metal wire is fed from a spool and consumed as the welding process progresses. The tip of the electrode metal wire, the point where the electrode metal wire meets the target workpiece, is called the tool center point.
Welding of different workpieces may require consumables of different current or amperage capacity. Consumables capable of handling relatively higher currents may have relatively larger geometries. Known robotic welding torches and consumables may require reprogramming or recalibration of the tool center point whenever a set of consumables is replaced with consumables of a different geometry.